Lock for steering-wheels of vehicles.



B. E. BEERS.

LOCK FUR STEERING WHEELS 0F VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23,1917.

Patented 515%. 18, 19h.

S wve/wtofo n BRADFORD E. nenas, or sro E, Wasnme'row, Assrenon or @Nascanna M. E. DAVIDSON, 0F -SEATTLE, WA5HINGTON.

. LOCK F03 STEERING-WHEELS 0F 'VEHICLES Specification of Letters Patent.

A Patented Dee.' andere.'

Application led Aprili, 1917. Serial No; 164,072.

To all whom t may concern."

i Be it known that I, BRADFORD a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washin on, have invented acertain new and use ul Improvement in Locks for. Steering-Wheels of Vehicles, of which the followln is a specification.

My inventlon relates to', improvementsdn locks for steering wheels of vehicles, and thev objectv of my invention is to provide locking. mechanism in associationVY with the steering wheel and steering shaft of an automobile, which locking mechanism shall be adapted to be actuated to dispose and `securely lock one ofy its movable parts at different desired times in the required one of two diii'erent positions with respect to other, of its parts, in one of which positions said steeringwheel shall be rigidly fastenedon said shaft'in fixed relation thereto, and in the other of which position said steering wheel shall be free to be rotated on saidv shaft without revolving said shaft, whereby one may leave his automobile in such condition that an unauthorized person cannot operatively revolve its steering rod to steer it, or, one quickly may change such condition operatively to cause its said steering rod to revolve in a normal manner in response to rotative movements of said Steering wheel, thereby to'make it possible to prevent the theft or an unauthorized use of his automobile.

I accomplish this object by devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

is a fragmentary view of thesame in horizontal section on broken line 3, 3 ot Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the same in horizontal section on broken line 4, 4 of v eferring to the drawings, lthroughout whichl lik reference numerals indicate like parte, rgi y fastened toy the upper endpor` E. Bums,

-and-in its top -side is faces of they tion of a steering shaft 5 is a sleeve o which.

is provided with an integral annular flange 7 that surrounds its lower endportion, Ithe upper end portion of saidsleeve 16- being of smaller' diameter to form an annular .shoulder 8;

Rotatably mounted onfsaid sleeve '6 is. a steerlng `wheel 9, thev botto' surface of whose hub 10 is disposed inengagement with the top surface of the annular tianget 7 as shown more clearly in Fig. 2.

The steering wheelV 9. embodies integral spokes 11,12, 13 and 14; which radiate from its hub 10, and the holethrough said huh- 10 is counter-'b'red at its 'upper end and:l within such counter-bored portion is rota. tably disposed van annular washer 15 whose under side is heldin rigid 'engagementxwith the top end surface of the sleeve 6 by means of a hexagonal vcap-nut lf3-which is perilla-,175 nently screwed fast on a screw-threaded rojecting portion 17 of the steering -sh'at 5, which washer 15 and nut 16 coact z rigidly'Y to fasten said sleeve 6 in its fixed vpositicnr on the steering shaft 5l withoutA preventing-80T rotative movements of the steering wheel 9 Y with respect to the sleeve 6. v

As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the Spoke 11 is of larger dimensions throughout apor` tion of its length adjacent to the hubv 1.0 '8.5l

formed arecess' .18;- which extends from the hole bored through the hub 10 to apoint near the outer endl of said enlarged portion, the bottom surface of said recess 18 registerin with' the surface 90 of the shoulder 8 of the s eevet,`

The side walls ot said recess 18 are provided with. a shoulder 19 which serves to support a removable cover QOthat normall covers. said recess, whichcoverQOis hel in its normally closed position by. thea' washer 15. l y

Disposed to extend vertically through thel spoke 11 from the outer end 18 to the under side 4of said spoke 11 1s a circulars-hole within which is inserted the body 21' of a pin lock, which body 21 is provided with a flange k22 on its lower end that engages with thel bottom surface of thev spokell.` The body 21 is secured rigidly in its po of the .recessLJ 23, which extend through lugs 24, which project from the inner surerticl hole. within-which the -26 to which is articulated `the locking member 317 as shown in and sector gear 28 which Extendinolupwardly' from the' top enel surface of lie rotatable cylinder 25,01 the pin lock, is an eccentricully disposed stud one end of n con'M meeting-rod 27 whose other end' is articulated to a sector gear 28 which is pivotally mounted on i stud that projects upwardly from the bottom surface of tlie recess 18, as shown niore clearly in Fig. 3.

The teetli'o the sector gea r 28 areeclzipt` ed operativelyl to engage with e pinion 30 which is integral with the upper end of e locking member 3l, whose form in crow- 's'ection is crescent-like as more clearly shown in Fig. and which is vertically disposed in o semi-circular groove formed in the boring of the hub 10 to extend poreliel with the axis thereof. l

Theperiphery or the sleeve 6 "s provided with' a.v Vertical groove 32 extending up,

Werdly from its unge 7, which groove 32 is of semi-circuler form in cross-section9 as shown more clearly` in Fig. 4, whereby, Willen` the steering Wheel 9 is rototively moved on the sleeve 6 to s circumferential position wherein the groove 32 is o posits ig. 4l, then, said locking memberl insy be ro- Stated to project a portion of it into the groove 32 in response to o rotative movement of the' cylinder l25 of the pin ioclr Whiclr acts through the connecting rod-2?' causes the pinion 30 to rotatively more said ioclzing member 31, thereby rigidly vto Wheel 9 with the sleeve 6 which is rigidly united with the steering shaft 5 so that seid 'steering Wheel 9 be rotated to cause e rotatiori'ot' said steering shaft 5 e, Well known manner to steer the entrai-nobile in a; desired course.

When it is desired to prevent on unau thorized person from operating; the steering shaft 5 it is only necessary to insert the key 33 in the pin lock and then turn it to actuat/e the cylinder 25 to cause the locking member 31 to loedisposed in its position shown in Fig. i and thereupon remove the unite the steering ineens? key 33 from the lock, tiius leaving time steer? ingwiieel 9 and steering shaft 5 in such condition that e rotation oi the 'steering AWheel 9 can in no way eetuete or revolve tlie steering shaft 5. f

Obviously, changes may be made in the forms, dimensionsund arrangement of parte' of my invention` Without departing from the spirit thereof.

'What claim is:

The combination of :i "vehicle, oie

with the steering shett y sleeve securely fastened on the upper end portion or seid steering shaft, seid sleeve being provided with en annular flange on its lower end end having o groove of semi-circul=ir cross-section disposed on its periphery to extend upwerdly @e from seid flange; a, spoked steering Wheel rotatably mounted on seid sleeve with .the bottom surface of its hub resting ou the upperennular surface of said Heilige, one or' the spokes of said Wheel being provided with si ,recess which extends into the bore oi"- said hub a 'groove of semi-cireuler crossu section provided in the bore ot Suid hub end disposed to exteud yfrom the bottom surface of said' recess tothe bottom end ofsoid'hub in parallel with the exis of seidV hub; *o l. looking; member or' semi-circular cross-*Seetion disposed within the groove of the bore of seid hub'snd-provided with e, toothed pinion on its upper end portion in e position higher than the bottom of seid recess; s sector gear pivotelly mounted 'within seid recess in a position operatively to engage its teeth with the teeth of seid pinionz'eio'cl: disposed to extend from the under 'side mi ,of said spoke into seid recess.; und eeo'rri neet-ing rod operatively disposed to connect u movable part ot said lock with said sector gear whereby said pinion may be 'actuated to rotutively move seid locking member to a desired one of two circumferential positions in response toV rotative movements oi* the key or' seid loclrn 1 In witness whereof, l hereunto subscribe my nume this 12th day of April A. D. 1917. @5

' BRADFORD l?. BEERS."

veo j 

